Easton road crews are fighting an "uphill battle" today as heavy snow covers plowed streets soon after the trucks move on to the next street.

But the snow itself -- a spotter measured 12.8 inches before noon in Forks Township -- won't be the problem today, Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said late this morning. The crews are working 12 hours on, eight hours off and catching up during lulls in precipitation. Sleet is a concern, the mayor said, but not the main problem

It's actually the old, frozen snow that's secured itself to the sides of the more than 100 miles of city streets that is creating the greatest challenge, Panto said.

The city has spent the last few days trying to get the old snow up before the new snow fell.

At intersections in the West Ward, piles of ice and snow were "so high you couldn't see," Panto said.

In addition to those intersections, the city concentrated on majors such as Cattell Street on College Hill, a snow emergency route that is usually cleared curb to curb but after last week's ice storm was left with barely a single lane down the middle, Panto said. Any street that was in a similar state was attacked by city and contracted crews, he said.

But every street that needed the help didn't get it and now more than a foot of new snow is forecast to fall.

How does a city recover from that?

The city will use rented heavy equipment, likely being driven by contract drivers from Alfero, JK Testa and Bean Inc., on Friday, Saturday and possibly Monday to pick up the snow. Drivers will initially carry it to The Crayola Experience bus parking lot on Lehigh Drive and, if needed, to the western Eddyside pavilion parking lot on Route 611, Panto said. Both parking areas have surfaces through which the snow can melt, he said.

The city made similar efforts in the record-breaking winters of 1993-94 and 1995-96.

"The last two years people got spoiled" by the mild winters, Panto said. But it allowed the city to accumulate rock salt, he said.

That supply has finally been depleted, Panto said, with enough on hand for this storm and perhaps a small one -- which is actually forecast Friday night into Saturday. No more loaning to other municipalities in need, he said. A delivery of 200 tons from International Salt is expected next week, hopefully Monday, to the city's two flood-proof containment structures at 500 Bushkill Drive, Panto said.

So, how much does it cost to do all this?

Panto said the city is still on budget for salt -- which it orders a year out -- and for overtime. About half the winter-weather overtime budget has been used as the city has 45 employees, from several departments, who participate in snow removal. By the end of this storm, it will likely be 75 percent depleted, Panto said. And that's just a month and a half into the 12-month budget for 2014, he said.

So, if winter pretty much stops now and doesn't return in November or December, the city will not break the budget, which is reviewed each month, the mayor said.

This much is certain, Panto said: More than $70,000 in road overlayment work will be shifted into filling potholes that have become an epidemic in the freeze-and-thaw that has ruled this winter.

The city, led by public works Director David Hopkins, has done an excellent job in maintaining its snow-removal armada, having not a single truck break down this winter, Panto said. And the city just appropriated $100,000 to buy a used tri-axle truck -- a 12-ton vehicle -- to plow, salt and haul, Panto said.

Residents need to keep in mind they have eight hours after the storm ends to clear their sidewalks and they can't leave their car snowed in for more than 72 hours on the street, Panto said. The city has sent 100 shoveling citations in recent days, he said.

"We trying to be lenient," he said, but the work needs to be done.

And if your sidewalk gets filled by a city plow, you're not alone. The mayor says the same thing happens at his house on South Side. And when he gets home from work tonight, he will have to re-shovel the entrance to his driveway just to be able to get his car off the street, he said.